‘Only credible suspect’ or ‘wrongly accused?’ Attorneys debate Lexington shooting evidence
CORRECTION: Jackie Alexander is the assistant commonwealth’s attorney who spoke in court during Antonio Gaskin’s trial on Tuesday. This information was incorrect in a previous version of this story.
The trial of a Detroit man who’s accused of killing two people in Lexington in 2019 opened Tuesday with prosecutors arguing that Antonio “Tyree” Gaskin is the only “credible” suspect in the case, while a defense attorney told jurors that the crime was being unjustly pinned on his client.
Gaskin, 45, faces two murder charges and two charges of failure to report the deaths of Sharmaine Carter, 25, and Marquis Harris, 24, who were each found with gunshot wounds to the head and chest in an Alexandria Drive apartment building. His trial started Monday with jury selection and it’s expected to continue into Thursday this week.
Gaskin’s defense team asked a judge to dismiss his indictment entirely last week, citing due process violations. Meanwhile, prosecutors also asked that the trial not start this week because they wanted to push it back. But Judge Thomas Travis dismissed both requests, and attorneys began their arguments Tuesday morning.
“Sometimes it is the people we are closest with that hurt us most,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jackie Alexander in her opening statements.
Alexander said Gaskin was like an uncle to Harris, and lived with him when he stayed in Lexington. Carter, Harris and Gaskin were all from Detroit, and came back and forth to Lexington for periods of time.
Gaskin is ‘only credible suspect,’ prosecutors say
The morning of Oct. 16, Alexander said Harris’ mother received a call from Gaskin, who said she and other family members – who were living in Detroit – needed to come down to Lexington because Gaskin had found Harris, and said, “things did not look good,” and “he couldn’t touch the body.”
Not knowing her son was yet dead, or even in Lexington, Harris’ mother asked Gaskin to call 911, but he wouldn’t, according to court testimony.
Also in Detroit, the godmother of Carter, Brenda Lopez, found out through a phone call that her goddaughter was dead. She also was not aware Carter nor Harris were in Lexington at the time. Alexander told the jury that Lopez called both Lexington police and the coroner’s office for confirmation. Both offices said they had not received that call, nor had a body matching Carter’s description.
Lopez gave identifying information to the coroner about Carter and was told if they did receive anyone matching Carter’s description, they would contact her.
“Unfortunately, two hours later, she received that phone call,” Alexander said.
Alexander said when police arrived at the scene, they found Harris on the floor, and Carter up against a cabinet, both with dried blood around them.
Alexander said that neighbors in the apartment told investigators they heard loud music played from Harris’ apartment. They also heard fighting, two “pop sounds” and two instances of “something heavy hitting the floor.” After that, the music stopped and no one heard anything else, Alexander said.
Alexander said that on the day following the shooting, police interviewed a man named George Heard, who was a Lyft driver for Harris on Oct. 15, bringing him from Detroit to Lexington.
Alexander said Heard told officers the ride cost $175, and when they arrived at the Lexington apartment, Harris was $50 short on the payment. He said a man – who Heard later identified as Gaskin – met Harris outside, hugged him, and paid the remaining balance. Heard then said he saw the two men enter the apartment together.
“(Gaskin) is the only credible suspect,” Alexander said.
Alexander said that Gaskin’s story changed, as he first said he showed up, found the bodies and left. Then he said he went to the apartment, paid what Harris owed for his Lyft, went inside and left while both victims were still alive.
Alexander said cell phone records show that on the night before the shooting, Harris answered a phone call from Gaskin around 9 p.m. Data also shows that Gaskin’s phone pinged near the apartment.
In addition, on the afternoon of Oct. 16, Gaskin was seen on surveillance footage at a pharmacy which shows footage of Gaskin buying a new cell phone. In addition, the investigation found Sprite cans and a cigarette butt in the apartment with his fingerprints and DNA on them.
“All evidence is going to point that the defendant took the life of Shermaine Carter and Marquis Harris,” Alexander said.
Defense attorney: ‘They want you to guess him guilty.’
When J. Parker Mincy – who’s part of Gaskin’s defense team – began his opening statements, he said Gaskin’s case was an example of a broken criminal justice system.
“We hear talking heads and sound clips on the news about it,” Mincy said. “We read about it. But this case is going to show you how broken it can be. … (Gaskin) has been wrongfully accused of committing murder and killing a young man that he considered family, and a young woman.
“You are going to see how the (broken justice system) failed not only Gaskin, but Marquis and Carter,” Mincy added. “These are three individuals who have been failed. The good news is that there is a chance for the jury of Gaskin’s peers, of Harris’ and Carter’s peers to do something about it.”
Mincy then said the prosecution’s evidence was “shoddy at best,” and they were going to present an argument which would ask the jury to “guess (Gaskin) guilty.”
He asked the jury to pay attention to the lack of reason that Gaskin had to kill either victim.
Mincy pointed specifically to evidence of the fingerprints on the Sprite can, phone records that show him in the area, and placing phone calls to the victim’s families after the incident occurred – citing how close Gaskin was to Harris.
“No one is going to find it surprising that a phone call was made in an area of town that (Gaskin) lives. It is not surprising to find that his DNA and fingerprints are on Sprite cans in an apartment in which you live at that time,” Mincy said.
Mincy said most of the prosecution’s evidence is “smoke and mirrors.”
Mincy said one witness was presented with only one photograph to identify a suspect, and that witness positively identified Gaskin. Mincy also said that more ammunition and guns were found at the apartment where the shooting happened, but those items were never tested to see if they were involved in the shooting.
“That is just a preview of things that were not done that should have been done in this case to try and get some justice, some resolution for families, to get an answer,” Mincy said. “Instead, we are left with guesses, and the government, who is trying to ask you to guess (Gaskin) guilty of killing a family member and a young lady.”
Mincy said the defense did its own witness follow-ups and tested ballistics. He said the defense hasn’t found anything to implicate Gaskin.
“It has only brought him further away from being somebody who would be accused of doing this,” Mincy said.
This story was originally published July 19, 2022 at 12:24 PM.
